Hesselagergård (or Hesselager Manor), located near

Gudme Gudme is a town in central Denmark with a population of 907 (1 January 2022), located in Svendborg municipality on the island of Funen in Region of Southern Denmark. Until 1 January 2007, it was the site of the municipal council of the now form ...

in the southeast of the Danish island Funen, is the oldest Renaissance building in Denmark. It was built by

Johan Friis Johan Friis (20 February 1494 – 5 December 1570) was a Danish statesman. He served as Chancellor under King Christian III of Denmark. Biography He was born at Lundbygård manor as the son of Jesper Friis til Lundbygård and Anne Johansdat ...

, one of the most powerful men in Denmark during the reigns of Christian III and Frederick II.

History

It is first documented in the 13th century when it was mentioned in

Valdemar II Valdemar (28 June 1170 – 28 March 1241), later remembered as Valdemar the Victorious (), was the King of Denmark (being Valdemar II) from 1202 until his death in 1241. Background He was the second son of King Valdemar I of Denmark and Sophi ...

's '' Liber Census Daniæ'' as

Crown land Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...

. In 1419, it belonged to the Bild family. From 1538-50 it was rebuilt in Renaissance style by

. Construction of the main building began in 1538, probably under the direction of

Martin Bussert Martin Bussert or Morten Bussert (birth date unknown, dead after 1552) Was a sculptor and Royal Master Builder in Denmark in the early of 1500s. His last name is sometimes recorded as "Bossart" or "Bussart". Biography Bussert's family ties are n ...

. It was a late-Gothic stone house in two stories with a tower in the northeastern corner. In 1548 an extra story and two more towers were added, probably by

Jacob Binck Jakob Binck (or Bink) (1485 - 1568/9) was a German engraver, etcher, painter, medalist, copyist and art dealer. He was a peripatetic artist who worked for various courts in Northern Europe, especially the Danish court, and also resided in Antwer ...

. In 1550 the building was given its original roof. The estate remained in the Friis family until 1682. In June 1850

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...

Visited the Hesselagergård Estate. In his diary, he describes how he felt ill at ease when he saw the portraits of the Duke of Augustenborg and the Prince of Nør "plastered on the walls of the lavatory" (the diary, 22 June). From 1904 the estate has been owned by the von Blixen-Finecke family.

Architecture

The construction started as a late gothic defensive castle, built of large red brick on a granite plinth and surrounded by a moat, but by the end it had introduced many renaissance features. Especially noteworthy are the highly decorated

hipped In vertebrate anatomy, hip (or "coxa"Latin ''coxa'' was used by Celsus in the sense "hip", but by Pliny the Elder in the sense "hip bone" (Diab, p 77) in medical terminology) refers to either an anatomical region or a joint. The hip region ...

, round gables inspired by

Venetian Venetian often means from or related to: * Venice, a city in Italy * Veneto, a region of Italy * Republic of Venice (697–1797), a historical nation in that area Venetian and the like may also refer to: * Venetian language, a Romance language s ...

renaissance church architecture. They are among the earliest known examples of this kind in Northern Europe. Not until the following decades are they seen in townhouses of Northern France and Austrian castles, such as Schwerin castle and

Gadebusch Gadebusch () is a town in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the district of Nordwestmecklenburg. Halfway between Lübeck, Schwerin and Wismar, it is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. The town is known for two notable monuments: the ''Stad ...

(15880-83). Also typical of the time are the blank arches below the projecting masonry and the watchman's passage at the top with

machicolation A machicolation (french: mâchicoulis) is a floor opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement, through which stones or other material, such as boiling water, hot sand, quicklime or boiling cooking oil, could be dropped on attackers at t ...

for missiles and boiling a liquid (as, for example, on Johan Friis' manor house Borreby on Sjælland). Other notable features are the decorative tops to the towers and depressed round-arched windows. Internally, Hesselagergård is famous for its frieze in the Deer Room. It depicted large deer, landscapes, towns, and people and was probably executed by Jacob Brinck around 1550.

List of owners

* (1183- ) Kronen * (1419) Jakob Ottesen Bild * (1446-1468) Henrik Friis * (1495-1503) Otto Friis * (1503-1522) Jesper Friis * (1522-1570) Johan Friis * (1570-1610) Niels Friis * (1610-1642) Tønne Friis * (1642-1658) Niels Friis * (1658-1679) Ingeborg Parsberg, gift Friis * (1679-1682) Boet efter Ingeborg Parsberg, gift Friis * (1682-1702) Poul Zachariassen Grønneval * (1702-1725) Niels Rasmussen Buchholtz * (1725-1726) Gråbrødre hospital * (1726-1750) Lorens Baggesen * (1750-1764) Øllegaard Nielsdatter Buchholtz, gift Baggesen * (1764-1766) Boet efter Øllegaard Nielsdatter Buchholtz, gift Baggesen * (1766-1798) Niels Baggesen * (1798-1802) Johan Frederik Friis * (1802-1819) Simon Andersen Dons * (1819-1868) Andreas Simonsen Dons * (1868-1886) Simon Andreasen Dons * (1886-1888) Laura Christine Petrine Schaumann, gift 1) Dons, 2) Møller * (1888- ) H.H. Møller * ( -1904) Andreas Laurits Schaumann Dons * (1904) Carl Vilhelm Behagen Castenskiold * (1904-1944) Bertha Henriette Marie Castenskiold, gift von Blixen-Finecke * (1944-1954) Carl August von Blixen-Finecke * (1954-1955) Enkefru von Blixen-Finecke * (1955-1963) Anna Elisabeth von Blixen-Finecke, gift Møller * (1955-1985) Gustav Frederik von Blixen-Finecke * (1985- ) Henrik von Blixen-Finecke

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hesselagergard Manor Castles and manor houses on Funen Listed buildings and structures in Svendborg Municipality Listed castles and manor houses in Denmark Renaissance architecture in Denmark Buildings and structures of the Friis family Buildings in Denmark associated with Hans Christian Andersen